Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) said that its Line 6 Expansion Project, one of the biggest brownfield developments in the Middle East region with a capex of approximately $3 billion, will be inaugurated by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on November 24.

Speaking during his keynote speech at the opening of the 23rd Arab International Aluminium Conference (Arabal 2019), Alba’s chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa said: “As we are about to celebrate the National Day of Bahrain and HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s accession to the throne, it gives me a great pleasure to announce that His Majesty has graced us with his generous patronage to the official inauguration ceremony of Alba’s Line 6 Expansion Project.”

“This great ceremony will make Bahrain home to the world’s largest aluminium smelter ex-China. This monumental event would not have been made possible without the directives and infinite support of our wise leadership; it is truly a source of pride for Bahrain’s Leadership, its Government and people,” he added.

Starting-out as a 120,000 metric tonne per annum (mtpa) smelter in 1971, Alba’s production for 2018 stood at plus-1 million metric tonnes.

This year it produced 135,000 mtpa and next year it will be producing 1.5 mtpa, to become the largest aluminium smelter outside China.

Alba’s product portfolio comprises high-grade aluminium and value-added products that include standard and T-ingots, extrusion billets, rolling slabs, properzi ingots and molten aluminium, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service